Welcome to the Rileys
Metascore
50 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 29 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 29
  2. Mixed: 17 out of 29
  3. Negative: 3 out of 29
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  1. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Lou Lumenick
    Dec 11, 2010
    75
    Stewart's intense, courageous performance as a 16-year-old New Orleans prostitute is really something special.
  2. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Mick LaSalle
    Dec 11, 2010
    75
    There are many things to admire about this movie, but the main one is that it doesn't compromise.
  3. Orlando Sentinel
    Reviewed by: Roger Moore
    Dec 11, 2010
    75
    The pleasures of Welcome to the Rileys are in the simplest human message of all. Take an interest in somebody who needs help and the life you save may be your own.
  4. New Orleans Times-Picayune
    Reviewed by: Mike Scott
    Dec 11, 2010
    75
    Without the fantastic performances from Gandolfini, Stewart and Leo, it wouldn't hold together nearly as well as it does.
  5. Movieline
    Reviewed by: Stephanie Zacharek
    Oct 28, 2010
    75
    These are all people you feel you've met before in other movies, if not all at once. But the movie's saving grace is that they don't always behave as you expect them to.
  6. Arizona Republic
    Reviewed by: Bill Goodykoontz
    Dec 11, 2010
    70
    A flawed script prevents Welcome to the Rileys from being the effective meditation on grief and healing it wants to be.
  7. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: J.R. Jones
    Dec 7, 2010
    70
    The hero's psychological transference is so blatant that even the characters begin commenting on it after a while, yet this modest three-hander is capably acted and genuinely touching.
  8. NPR
    Reviewed by: Jeannette Catsoulis
    Oct 28, 2010
    70
    A creaky, sometimes forced drama that burrows under your skin if you let it, Welcome to the Rileys lurches along like Lois' car as she tries to exit her garage for the first time in years.
  9. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Claudia Puig
    Oct 28, 2010
    63
    Only two-thirds of this unlikely trio comes close to capturing the complexity of anguish and pain.
  10. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Richard Mowe
    Oct 28, 2010
    60
    The film wears its heart on its sleeve, but the drama falters when the tone grows over-earnest; additionally, Scott's direction fails to exert a tight grasp on his material.
  11. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    Oct 25, 2010
    60
    Ken Hixon's script contrives a lot of mutual-healing set pieces and then sadly but shrewdly aborts them: That makes the drama more Chekhovian than "quite real."
  12. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Lisa Schwarzbaum
    Oct 27, 2010
    58
    Rileys has been casually dubbed "Kristen Stewart's stripper movie," but the handle doesn't stick: Stewart may wear skimpy clothes and grind once or twice from the neck down, but from the neck up she's all hollow, bruised eyes, twisted little mouth, and classic, coltish K-Stew rebellion.
  13. Miami Herald
    Reviewed by: Connie Ogle
    Dec 11, 2010
    50
    Sets out to be a study of grief and how to overcome it, but it rings too false to offer much hope - or entertainment.
  14. Christian Science Monitor
    Reviewed by: Peter Rainer
    Dec 11, 2010
    50
    Leo, in particular, seems poleaxed with good intentions. Her Lois wins the Most Understanding Wife award.
  15. Philadelphia Inquirer
    Reviewed by: Steven Rea
    Dec 7, 2010
    50
    Flat and predictable.
  16. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Manohla Dargis
    Oct 28, 2010
    50
    What keeps the film's fragile realism intact are actors who can make even small moments count.
  17. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: Betsy Sharkey
    Oct 28, 2010
    50
    Fortunately Stewart seems to thrive in water over her head, and when she pulls Gandolfini in with her the movie gels. It makes you wish the filmmaker had left them in the deep end longer.
  18. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    Oct 28, 2010
    50
    The actors and admirably sensitive director Jake Scott (son of Ridley) can't compensate for Ken Hixon's long slog of a script.
  19. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    Oct 28, 2010
    50
    All three actors come at this gloomy, borderline-preposterous tale from different directions; that they meet up at all - and they do - is a tribute to sincerity and craft.
  20. New York Observer
    Reviewed by: Rex Reed
    Oct 27, 2010
    50
    Despite its good intentions, this earnest little film seems embalmed.
  21. Village Voice
    Reviewed by: Dan Kois
    Oct 26, 2010
    50
    Try as Stewart might, she can't turn this Manic Trixie Nightmare Girl into a real person.
  22. The Hollywood Reporter
    Reviewed by: Kirk Honeycutt
    Oct 24, 2010
    50
    The movie never overcomes the triteness of its premise.
  23. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Nathan Rabin
    Oct 28, 2010
    42
    The bluntness wouldn't be so oppressive if the film weren't so austere and glacially paced: Welcome To The Rileys is way too humorless.
  24. New York Daily News
    Reviewed by: Joe Neumaier
    Dec 11, 2010
    40
    If Welcome to the Rileys were a thicker-skinned movie -- if it were the movie it thinks it is -- so much of the outcome wouldn't be telegraphed the minute you read the premise.
  25. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Marjorie Baumgarten
    Dec 11, 2010
    40
    Terrific performances can't save this preposterous film from itself, but they do make it more bearable to watch.
  26. Time Out New York
    Reviewed by: David Fear
    Oct 26, 2010
    40
    Only Leo, always a dependable supporting actor, turns her character into something resembling a three-dimensional person. Watching her tentatively reconnect with her maternal instincts is a welcome surprise. Everything else here just feels like another descent into mediocre Amerindie miserablism.
  27. Wall Street Journal
    Reviewed by: Joe Morgenstern
    Oct 28, 2010
    30
    This dreary drama telegraphs every punch, emotion and plot point with a dedication that would have done the old Western Union proud.
  28. Variety
    Reviewed by: Peter Debruge
    Oct 24, 2010
    30
    Nothing short of preposterous, Jake Scott's film imagines a grieving couple (James Gandolfini and Melissa Leo) who play surrogate parents to an underage stripper ("Twilight's" Kristen Stewart) and spins it for the "Blind Side" crowd.
  29. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Michael O'Sullivan
    Dec 11, 2010
    12
    "Welcome to the Rileys"? Thanks, but no thanks.

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.5 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 42 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 20 out of 22
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 22
  3. Negative: 2 out of 22
  1. ambereyesnyc
    10
    After hearing about this movie on Twitter for about a year, it finally opened in NY and I got my chance to see it. I can safely say there is not an once of Bella Swan in Kristen Stuwert's performance. Her character Mollary is dirty, broken and gritty. Stewert brings us along for the ride fearlessly. James Gandolfini brings new life to himself with a midwestern dialect and a very kind but damaged soul and makes you forget all about Tony Saprano from the door. However, the standout performance was Michelle Leo. Her evolution with this character is Oscar worthy and leaves nothing but the need to root for her.
    Director Jake Scott seems to take special pains not to exploit the Mollary character by using shodowing and artistic camera angles in which the audience gets the idea without the gratuitous cheap shots lesser directors must've used to cheapen the story.
    All in all, if you love really good strong movies with heart and soul this movie is a must see . If your looking for Twilight...wait till next year.    … Full Review »
  2. YoursTruly
    10
    I completely fell in love with this. And, even though it is generally well received, I am truly astonished that it has gotten even a noticeable amount of lackluster reviews. I do not see what is not to like. All three of the main actors/actresses are real all the way down to the marrow, the story unfolds very smoothly with all of the passion, humor and soulfulness that one may find in real life, and what I really adore about Welcome to the Riley's is that at no point did I feel as though I was being told a tale. It wasn't like watching a movie. It was more like watching a documentary. Because everything from the smallest facial expressions, to the most insignificant gestures is just saturated with texture and emotion. It's the quick and thoughtless remarks that the characters make, and the angles of certain glimpses of camera work that allow us, the audience, to understand what is really going on underneath all of the outward doings and occurrences. I was invested, I was interested, I was engaged and I cared about everything that was happening in this fictional world that died in two hours. Aspiring filmmakers, take notes. This is how you make something memorable and evocative. Truly touching. Moving in more ways than one. And even though nothing really sad happens during the course of the film...I almost found my self crying from the sheer humanity. Brilliant. Wonderful. Special.… Full Review »
  3. GeorgeBurnside
    10
    WOW. Critics are so quick to under rate this movie. I was genuinely moved by all three characters, due to the acting, it was extremely well done, especially for an indie, James really plays his character well, I was surprised with his phenomenal performance, and Kristen was very good, stepping out off her stereotypical role as Bella, I'm sick off people saying she cannot act, how can you judge an actress if you've only seen the twilight movies, she really stepped up to the mark. Melissa, James and Kristen had perfect chemistry on screen. The only thing I disliked was the lack of closure at the end, but it was enough to keep me happy, I just wanted a bit more, even five minutes would've made more sense, but overall, the film was amazing, a must see...Soo under rated.… Full Review »
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